Charanjit Singh Channi clarifies 'stuntbaazi' remark on Poonch attack, says 'statement was distorted'
Charanjit Singh Channi clarifies ‘stuntbaazi’ remark on Poonch attack, says ‘statement was distorted’
NEW DELHI: Under fire for his remarks regarding the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi clarified that his statement was misinterpreted and “distorted”.
Pointing out that the attack came amid the Lok Sabha elections, Channi had on Sunday alleged it was “pre-planned” and such “stuntbaazi” is done to facilitate BJP’s win in the polls.
“This is stuntbaazi. When elections come, such stunts are done to make the BJP win. These are pre-planned attacks, there is no truth in them,” Channi said while speaking to reporters in Punjab.
Following Channi’s comments, several BJP leaders demanded an apology, including from top Congress brass.
Facing severe criticism, the former CM released a video on Monday in which he stated: “My statement was distorted. What I meant to say was that a similar attack had taken place during the last Lok Sabha elections also. But it was not investigated by BJP and till now it is not known who was involved in the said attack.”
Channi explained that he intended to draw a parallel between the recent attack and the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which occurred during the previous Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress leader went on to claim that the BJP was turning the death of soldiers into a political stunt.
“I feel sad when the soldiers of my country are martyred. But BJP is making it its stunt. We are proud of the jawans who joined the armed forces to safeguard the country. I gave a statement that in the last Parliamentary elections, 40 jawans were attacked and they lost their lives,” he said.
“To date, the Government has not found out who executed the attack and who was responsible for it. It is election time once again. Our jawans were attacked once again and one jawan lost his life. I would like to ask the Government – who are those people who orchestrate such attacks, why are they not brought before everyone, and why does intelligence failure take place? Jawans have lost their lives once again. What I am saying is that why is this being made a political stunt and used by BJP?” said Channi.
Poonch attack
An Indian Air Force officer was killed and four others injured in the terror attack in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.
Combined teams of Army, paramilitary, and J&K police are conducting a massive combing operation to trace the terrorists who managed to escape after launching the attack.
A group of terrorists led by Abu Hamza, a foreigner affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), is suspected to be behind the attack.
Hamza is also accused of masterminding the killing of govt employee Mohammad Razaq on April 22 in Rajouri.
Police have announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for information about him.
(With inputs from agencies)
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